Sat 19th Nov Southern League Division One South. Westbury United 2 Bideford 3.
ANOTHER crazy match at Meadow Lane where Westbury trailed 0-2, levelled at 2-2 despite being down to 10 men, before Bideford snatched a winner!
United got off to the better start, with visiting keeper, Adam Seedhouse-Evans, saving from Harvey Flippance; then Matty Morris’ fierce strike was blocked by a defender’s face. Westbury attacked again and Seedhouse-Evans saved Ryan Bole’s low shot.
Soon after, Morris beat two men and played a lovely ball, which just eluded Gary Higdon. Having survived the pressure, Bideford opened the scoring on 15 when an error by Ashton Shanley and Aaron Cockerill gifted a chance to Lewis Brooks, who finished well. Seedhouse-Evans continued to have a good afternoon as he got down low to save Higdon’s header.
There was a confusing occurrence when both Emmanuel Adepitan and Bole were booked for the same foul the,n just before the break, Mark Bowden saved from Brooks. There was little sign of the craziness to come in a very scrappy start to the second half. Then on the hour, Bole was shown a second yellow card and therefore a red.
Despite now having a man disadvantage, Westbury went all out to get back into the game, pushing four men up front to give it a real go. However, they were immediately shaken when Steve Hulbert was harshly adjudged to have fouled Ryan Turner, and Craig Duff-Dick made it 0-2 from the penalty spot! United then had a remarkable 15 minutes; Higdon was adamant a header had crossed the line, but no goal was given.
Higdon then went to ground and after consultation with his assistant, the referee gave a penalty! Morris smashed it in to reduce Westbury’s arrears on 69. Shanley had a shot charged down and the ball flew to the other end where Jake Hutchings superbly tackled the Bideford striker. Morris sent in a great cross, which was skewed away for a corner, from which Cockerill powered a header against the crossbar and Higdon then curled the ball wide.
Bowden excelled to tip away Javan Wright’s shot and this proved vital as a minute later, Shanley’s cross was headed in by Sam Jordan, to equalise at 2-2 on 83. Incredibly, the hosts nearly went in front, however Cockerill’s glancing header from a Morris set piece drifted wide. The winning goal came on 86 when Turner looped a header over Bowden.
Still Westbury didn’t give up and in added time, they forced a series of corners and free kicks which the visitors defended well.
Team: Mark Bowden, Steve Hulbert, Ryan Bole, Emmanuel Adepitan, Aaron Cockerill, Jake Hutchings, Ashton Shanley, Joe Stradling, Harvey Flippance, Gary Higdon, Matty Morris. Subs: Conner McKay, Sam Jordan (used) Dan Jordan, Will Thomson, Ricky Hulbert (unused). Report by Andy Bown. Photo by Martin Pearce.
